So you think
history is boring? Treacherous isolated coastline on the other side of
the world is a great place for adventure… and way back in the 1600’s
Western Australia was on the other side of the world. Trading
ships from the Dutch East India Company encountered our coastline,
leaving shipwrecks, marooned survivors, and some of the best ripping
yarns maritime history can offer.

Why were so many
Dutch ships wrecked on the Western Australian Coastline?

A Dutch trading body
called the Dutch East India Company made over 5000 arduous ocean
trips to Asia, to buy exotic spices to sell on the European markets.
This all happened between 1602 and 1800. Formed in Amsterdam during
1602, the Dutch East India Company became an international
powerhouse, competing with all the major seafaring nations of the day.
They built a massive fleet of merchantmen, which carried passengers,
trading goods, and lots of silver coins to purchase all the new cargo.

Prior to 1611,
the preferred route to Asia ensured the ships stayed fairly close to the
East African coastline, after rounding the Cape of Good Hope. However
in 1610, Hendrik Brouwer followed the westerly winds
(Roaring Forties), crossing much of the southern
Indian Ocean, before heading north to Asia. This was a brilliant idea
because it shortened the journey, and everybody arrived feeling more
healthy. A skilful mariner could save up to six months travel time. The
down side to this new route was that navigational instruments were still
rather primitive (no chronometers yet), and many of the ships sailed too
far east before swinging north. As a consequence, many were
shipwrecked on the desolate Western Australian coastline. Why not
check out our discussion on the
Seynbrief to find out more about catching the Roaring
Forties.

In fact over 1400
ships have been wrecked on the Western Australian coastline. To be fair,
only four Dutch ships were actually wrecked, with another three presumed
missing in the region. Not a bad track record when you consider the
number of journeys they made along the coastline. During it’s 198
year history, the Dutch East India Company still managed to wreck
more than 650 ships worldwide. Nice effort guys.

The Dutch East
India Company did more than just trade goods. They organised many
expeditions to explore, and chart the unknown coastline they referred to
as New Holland. Discovering much of the Western Australian
coastline, detailed maps were drawn to improve knowledge of the region,
and to ensure fewer ships were endangered during future trips. They even
mounted daring rescue missions to search for survivors. The
Dutch East India Company were always optimistic about the survival
skills of their marooned crews.
Williem de Vlamingh during
his voyage of 1697, was ordered to search for survivors of the
Vergulde Draeck, wrecked over 40 years earlier. These and other
Dutch survivors unintentionally became Australia’s first European
settlers. Despite leaving behind some intriguing clues, they all
mysteriously vanished… never to be seen again.

Why did the Dutch shipwreck survivors vanish into
thin air?
Conservative estimates suggest over 300 passengers and crew of the
Dutch East India Company inhabited the Western Australian coastline,
as a consequence of being marooned. That seems like a lot of people,
though it must be remembered they landed across a period of nearly 100
years (1629 -1727).

In such small unprepared groups, they never stood much of a chance of
long term survival in an extremely harsh, and arid environment.
Even when the highly organised British settlers arrived in 1829, they
struggled for many years before establishing a viable community. The
British originally numbered 150, were well supplied, and had carefully
chosen their settlement site along the Swan River. You can only
imagine the struggle encountered by the early Dutch shipwreck survivors.

Evidence suggests
many of the survivors attempted to shape some form of existence on the
coastline. When the Vergulde Draeck was wrecked in 1656, seventy
five people made it ashore. Seven of the crew then bravely sailed
a small boat north to Batavia, and raised the alarm. In 1658 the
rescue mission of the Waeckende Boei, reported finding a beach
littered with wreckage from the Vergulde Draeck. Survivor
activity was supported by the discovery of a circle of the ships planks,
planted deliberately with their ends in the sand. This may have
been a roughly fashioned wind break enabling the survivors to maintain a
presence on the beach while awaiting to be rescued. During the mid
1800’s, three more poles and uprights were discovered along Western
Australian beaches. The occasional stone circle was also found, but with
so much shipwreck activity along the coastline, it is difficult to draw
any meaningful conclusions to their origins.

Several fires
were seen on the shore behind where the wreckage was discovered. On closer investigation,
they were found to have been lit by the
Aborigines living in the area. The curiosity of the local Aborigines,
can also explain why some wreckage found it’s way inland. It
appears the survivors may have given up waiting on the beach for a
rescue mission to arrive from Batavia. In desperation, they
probably trekked inland with the hope of finding food, and improved
shelter. It is likely they became disorientated, perishing in an
unfamiliar and hostile environment.

Beardman Jugs
recovered from various Dutch wrecks.

Rescue missions
experienced similar difficulties. Three landing crew from the Goede
Hoop (1656) became lost in the bush, and were never seen again.
Members of the Vlamingh expedition (1697) ate the local
vegetation, and became violently ill. The weary shipwreck survivors
would have been exposed to even greater health risks, from drinking
brackish water, and eating unknown poisonous plants.

In 1927, a
campsite was discovered on the top of the coastal cliffs near the wreck
of the Zuytdorp (1712). Various items including broken bottles
and cooking pots were found near old abandoned camp fires. In 1931,
forty silver guilder coins from the Vergulde Draeck were found in
the sand hills near the entrance to Moore River. No human remains
have ever been located, suggesting a short, but fatal trek inland may
have ensued.

Did some Dutch survivors manage to establish an
inland settlement around the oasis of Palm Valley in Central Australia?
The existence of an isolated Dutch colony was first reported in an English newspaper called The Leeds Mercury
(25th January 1834).
This article was reproduced in other publications around the world
during the 1830's. These included the
Perth Gazette (20th September 1834 - page 359), and a Dutch scientific journal
in 1837. Various explorers and academics have been
talking the colony up ever since, but are yet to produce any solid
evidence of its’ existence.

The story is rather
fascinating, and can be summarised as follows.

In 1832 a
covert English expedition commanded by Lieutenant Nixon
discovered a group of 300 Dutch people living in a desert oasis
known as Palm Valley.

They were the
descendants of Dutch shipwreck survivors from the mid 1600’s to
early 1700’s. Their ships were wrecked on the Western Australian
coastline, and included the Vergulde Draeck (1656), the
Zuytdorp (1712), and the Zeewijck (1727).

The catalyst
for the settlement was the wrecking of the Concordia in 1708,
on the northern coast of Western Australia. Eighty men and ten
women trekked more than 1500km inland, and established a settlement
in Palm Valley, near Central Australia. Stores salvaged
from the wreck were carried on the journey.

They lived in
houses which were enclosed by a great wall, to defend the colony
from attacking Aborigines. Their principal diet consisted of fish
netted from the valley’s rivers, and maize grown from simple
plantations. They would occasionally capture kangaroos and other
local wildlife. Food shortages were common.

A broken form
of old Dutch was spoken by the settlers, from which their story was
translated. The men wore trousers, and jackets fashioned from animal
skins.

Lieutenant
Nixon invited some of the settlers to return with the
expedition. They refused, and Nixon had to leave
promptly. His time was limited by the changing monsoon season,
and the distance required to trek back to his ship.

The Dutch East India Company’s
ship Concordia is central to the story. It is officially listed
as being lost somewhere near Mauritius in 1708. That places it a long
way from the north coast of Western Australia. Without the Concordia,
the Dutch Colony would lack a viable founding population. Survivors from
the other known wrecks, would have been too few in number, and separated
by a period of years too great, to sustain a settlement.

No direct
evidence has ever been presented to validate the existence of a Dutch
settlement at Palm Valley. Palm Valley certainly
exists. It is an ancient sandstone escarpment and valley floor,
populated by thousands of red cabbage palms. Ochre coloured gorges, rock
pools and white sands dominate this rich oasis. The valley exists
in stark contrast to the arid desert that surrounds it.

Any group of wandering shipwreck survivors would naturally be attracted
to the comforts of Palm Valley, if they were ever lucky enough to
find it. The first European to officially see the palm trees was
the explorer Ernest Giles in 1872. He never actually entered the
valley, fearing dangerous flooding from some threatening rain. The
valley was not properly discovered by Europeans until a nearby German
mission was settled in 1877. If you accept the Dutch colony idea,
the area was settled in 1708, and rediscovered on May 15th, 1832.
Neither Giles or the German settlers, found any evidence of the
300 person colony, and they arrived only 40 years after the fabled
Nixon Expedition departed. The valley is now a popular tourist
destination. To date no visitor to the region has stumbled upon an
artefact from the mystery colony.

Even if
sustainable numbers were marooned, a 1500km trek across a hostile
desert, carrying heavy stores would have been impossible. Scarcity of
food, water, and shelter, would have hindered an extended inland
journey. The probability of then successfully locating a desert oasis in
Central Australia would have been marginal. Particularly in the
unexplored, and unmapped inland Australia of 1708.

Lieutenant Nixon and his expedition vanished as quickly as they
appeared. Such an important discovery would have surely required urgent
investigation. It was nearly two years before the discovery
appeared in an article in a regional English newspaper, and then later
reproduced in the Perth Gazette. Judging by
this lack of editorial interest, the press of the day considered the
story to be no more than an elaborate “Traveller’s Yarn”.

Until some hard evidence is presented supporting the Palm Valley Colony,
it will retain it’s mythical status. It is an intriguing story,
which will endure for many years to come.

Conspiracy
Theory:Why
was the Nixon Expedition shrouded in so much secrecy? Why did
Governor Stirling hurriedly return to England in August 1832?
Perhaps British intelligence had confirmed the existence of an inland
Dutch settlement. A Dutch colony predating the British
occupation of Western Australia, would have created long term issues for
both Stirling, and the homeland. So in April 1832
a secret military mission was organised to locate, and remove all
evidence of the settlement's existence. With the job done,
Stirling personally reported the news back to England. Some word
of the incident did leak, though was contained within some vague newspaper
articles.

Palm
Valley - 300 Years Later.

Red Cabbage
Palms capture a time when central Australia had a
tropical past. During periods of excessive
rainfall, water still cascades across the
valley floor. A concern for Giles in 1872.

These Red
Cabbage Palms are found nowhere else in central
Australia.

Following up on our not so successful “Deadwater
Wreck Expedition” we decided to check out Palm
Valley, and search for evidence of the lost Dutch
Settlement. After an all day investigation of
the valley floor, we found absolutely nothing. Over
300 years later, the sands of this lonely oasis
yielded no evidence of an early European settlement.
We left Palm Valley convinced there was no way a
group of shipwreck survivors could have ever trekked
this far inland, and then established a viable
community. Yet when the sheer beauty of the
valley is appreciated in stark contrast to the
surrounding desert, you can easily conjure up
imagery of a lost world, undiscovered to modern
civilisation.

What are the names of the
Dutch ships that were wrecked on the Western Australian Coastline?

Four ships of the Dutch East
India Company are known to have been officially wrecked on the coast
of Western Australia.

Batavia (1629)

The
Batavia was wrecked during the early hours of the morning on
June 4th 1629, after striking a reef in the Houtman Abrolhos
Islands. The reef is now known as the Morning Reef. There were
341 people on board the Batavia. Using two boats salvaged from
the wreck, most of the passengers and crew were transferred to
the nearby islands. Forty people drowned in the rough seas.

Following a brief
survey of the islands, Captain Francisco Pelsaert concluded there was no
fresh water, and a very limited supply of food. On June 7th, Pelsaert
and 46 of the crew set sail in one of the ship’s long boats for Batavia. Leaving behind over 250 survivors,
Pelsaert arrived in Batavia over a
month later. He was promptly given command of the vessel Sardam, and
instructed to return on a rescue mission.

Meanwhile back at the wreck site things were going horribly wrong. Before the
Batavia struck the reef, a nasty character called Jeronimus
Cornelisz had planned a mutiny. Being shipwrecked was not going to
curtail his desire for a life of piracy. He was now the most senior
officer amongst the survivors, and quickly assumed control. Cornelisz
cunningly ferried 20 soldiers under the command of Wiebbe Hayes, to a
nearby island to search for water. With the soldiers isolated, Cornelisz
and his followers brutally murdered 125 men, women, and children.

Meanwhile Hayes
had discovered a good supply of food and water. He promptly sent smoke
signals to Cornelisz, though they remained unanswered. Eventually some
of the survivors escaped from the islands under Cornelisz’s control.
Arriving by rafts or exhausted from swimming across the water, they
advised Hayes of the terrible massacre taking place. Fearing an attack,
Hayes fortified his island, and made some weapons from the materials
available in the area.

Batavia Cannon.

Several attempts
were made by the mutineers to overthrow Hayes, with many being killed on
both sides. Hayes repelled the invaders for nearly two months. During
the last battle on September 17th, the rescue ship Sardam was sighted
near the island. The mutineers realised if they boarded the Sardam
before Hayes, they could gain control over the ship. Hayes was no fool,
and made every effort to be the first on board. The race was on.

Thankfully, Wiebbe Hayes was the first survivor to speak to Captain Pelsaert. After a short battle, the combined forces of
Hayes and Pelsaert defeated the murderous mutineers. Following a brief trial the
worst offenders were executed on the island. Amongst them was Jeronimus
Cornelisz. The lesser offenders were returned to Batavia. On the journey
back to Batavia, Pelsaert marooned two of the mutineers on mainland
Australia. They were never heard of again. Deliberately left near the
mouth of the Murchison River, they are unofficially Australia’s first
European settlers. Only 68 of the 341 crew and passengers of the
Batavia,
survived the horrible ordeal.

Walga
Rock Mystery

About
350km inland from where the two mutineers were marooned is a
large rock monolith known as Walga Rock. It is roughly 1.5
kilometres long, and 5 kilometres around it’s base. Displayed on
the walls of a huge cave inside the rock, are many ancient
aboriginal paintings. One image looks most unlike the rest.
Clearly visible is the painting of a ship from the
seventeenth century. Perhaps the two marooned mutineers painted the
figure of the Batavia on the rock, and then spent the
remainder of their lives with the local Aborigines.

Vergulde
Draeck (1656)

The Vergulde Draeck was wrecked on April 28th 1656, on a reef off
Ledge
Point, with 193 people on board. Only 75 survivors managed to struggle
onto the shore. The Vergulde Draeck sustained heavy damage upon impact.
Very few provisions were salvaged, but fortunately a small boat was
saved.

Using this boat, seven of the ship’s crew sailed north to Batavia, and
reported the tragedy. Three rescue missions were organised to locate the
remaining 68 survivors, though nobody was ever found. Two intriguing
tales emerged from the wreck of the Vergulde Draeck, and are discussed
separately within this text. These being:

The Zuytdorp was wrecked
during April 1712 on a reef at the base of some rugged cliffs south of
Shark Bay. There were 286 passengers and crew on board the ship. Unlike
the other three Dutch wrecks, nobody from the Zuytdorp reached Batavia
to report the incident. We will never know the exact circumstances of
that fateful day.

The anchor (right) probably broke a
fluke when the Zuytdorp was dragged through the surf towards the steep
coastal cliffs.

Zuytdorp Anchor.

Excavation of the
site has provided some clues. The Zuytdorp first struck a reef about 100
metres offshore, before pounding waves pushed the ship towards the base
of the cliffs. There was probably no time to launch the boats. Any
survivors who had succeeded in leaving the ship would have been in major
spot of bother. Imagine standing on a reef platform at the base of
insurmountable steep ocean cliffs, being ravaged by huge seas, and
sucked into dangerous blowholes. Somebody did manage to get
to the cliff top.

In 1927, a
stockman stumbled upon a survivors camp on the top of the cliffs.
Various items including silver coins, broken bottles and cooking pots
were discovered near old some abandoned camp fires. No human remains
have ever been found. It is possible that some survivors climbed the
mast of the disintegrating ship, and bridged the small gap between it,
and the cliff face. Exhausted, they reached the cliff top, and survived
there for a short period of time. In recognition of their struggle, the cliffs
are now known as the Zuytdorp Cliffs.

The ship's bell
(left) rang for the last time in 1712, alerting the passengers to the impending
disaster.

The Zuytdorp's
Bell.

Zeewijck
(1727)

The Zeewijck was wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, during the
evening of June 9th 1727, with 212 people on board. The lookout officer
spotted some breaking waves half an hour before the impact, though
dismissed them as moonlight reflecting off the sea. At 7:30pm the
Zeewijck collided with what is now known as Half Moon Reef.

Unlike other Dutch wrecks, the Zeewijck did not disintegrate upon
impact. One week later, Captain Jan Steijns launched the long boat, and
landed 96 survivors on the relative safety of nearby Gun Island. Thirty
survivors decided to stay on the wreck, which became their home for an
amazing five months. Unable to be floated, the Zeewijck was securely
locked onto Half Moon Reef.

Twelve of the
fittest survivors set off in the long boat on July 10th, in hope of
reporting the disaster to Batavia. They were never heard of again,
possibly becoming marooned on the mainland. After waiting four months,
the remaining survivors concluded that the long boat crew never reached
Batavia. In a bold decision, it was noted in the ship’s log of October
29th, the intention to construct a vessel to carry all the castaways to
Batavia.

Zeewijck - Cauldron Lid.

Construction of the sloop took four months, and utilised materials from
the Zeewijck, and local mangrove timber. Two swivel cannons were also
added, to protect the ten chests of money they intended to salvage. The
completed vessel was named the Sloepie, and was the first European ship
built in Australia. She was officially launched on February 28th 1728,
standing 20 metres long by 6 metres wide.

On March 26th
1728, the Sloepie left Gun Island with all 88 remaining survivors on
board. Eighty two Zeewijck survivors arrived in Batavia on April 30th
1728. Six people perished during the journey. The Zeewijck story is an
incredible journey of determination, lasting more than ten months from
the shipwreck to Batavia. They even made the journey carrying the ten chests of money.

Did some Dutch ships vanish along the
Western Australian Coastline never to be heard of again?

Between 1694 and
1726 the Dutch East India Company lost three ships without trace, on the
route from Cape Town to Batavia. No wreckage has ever been recovered,
and no survivors lived to tell their fateful tales. It is possible at
least one of these ships may have been wrecked on the Western
Australian coastline.Ridderschap van Holland
(1694)
The Ridderschap van Holland
disappeared after departing the Cape of Good Hope on February
5th 1694. It
belonged to the largest class of the Dutch East India Company’s ships,
and vanished with 325 passengers and crew. Such was the loss of this
vessel, that Willem de Vlamingh was despatched in 1696, to search for
wreckage and survivors. Commanding an expedition of three ships, he
found no evidence of the vessel. His expedition charted much of the
Western Australian coastline, and sighted the future location of the
City of Perth.

Fortuin (1724)The Fortuin disappeared on it’s maiden voyage to Batavia, after
departing
the Cape of Good Hope on January 18th 1724. Like the Ridderschap van Holland,
it was a large vessel. No wreckage or survivors were ever found.

Aagtekerke (1726)After departing Cape Town on the 29th January 1726, the
Aagtekerke
sailed into oblivion. Also a large company vessel, no survivors lived to
tell the tale. It’s route could have possibly wrecked it on the coast of
Western Australia.

In 1727 the Dutch had the misfortune to have the ship Zeewijck run
aground on the reefs of the Abrolhos Islands. The Abrolhos Group of
islands are off the coast of Western Australia. Survivors of the
Zeewijck reported the wreckage of another unidentified Dutch vessel on
the islands. They also discovered several water wells, and harvested
some vegetables they found growing on the islands. Perhaps these
were the remnants of survival, from one of the three missing ships.

With all the
resources directed to searching the northern coastline, the
southern
beaches escaped the attention of the Dutch rescue expeditions. It was
not until 1846 that a surveyor walking along an estuary north of
Busselton, possibly discovered the partially submerged wreckage of a Dutch trading
vessel. It was located in a shallow estuary, covered by water, sand, and
thick seaweed. Described as an ancient vessel of great tonnage, it could
have well been the decaying wreckage of the Ridderschap van Holland,
Fortuin, or Aagtekerke. Some quicksilver (mercury), and silver coins
were discovered close to the site. Resting in the still waters of the
Vasse Estuary, the ship became known as the “Deadwater Wreck”. Serious
interest in the vessel had to wait until 1910. Unfortunately it was too
late. The passage of time, and it’s accessibility to amateur salvage
enthusiasts had left no clues. Maritime archaeologists at least have a
rough idea where it is.

The Deadwater
Wreck.

For a more
detailed discussion on this wreck, and other countries that visited
Western Australia before it was trendy, check out our article on the
"Deadwater Wreck". Today all our
wrecks are protected by special legislation, effectively meaning if you
remove even a single coin, you’ll be shot on site. Just joking… but you
can still be locked away, never to be seen again.

Why were the
Dutch leaving old dinner plates on the Western Australian coastline?

On October 25th
1616, the Dutch mariner Dirk Hartog stepped ashore, on what is now
known as Dirk Hartog Island, off the coast of northern Western
Australia. This was a big deal, as it was the first recorded landing of
a European on the coast of Western Australia. To mark the occasion, Hartog nailed a pewter plate to a post. It was inscribed with all the
important details of his landing. The area is now known as Cape
Inscription.

Eighty one years
later in February 1697, the Hartog plate was found by the Dutch
expedition of Willem de Vlamingh. The First Mate, in seeking higher
ground for a better view of Dirk Hartog Island, climbed a hill and found
a pole with a pewter plate half hidden in the sand. The plate was badly
weathered, and the post had almost rotted away to nothing.

Hartog’s Plate on
Cape Inscription.

Vlamingh decided
to take Hartog’s plate with him, and leave a new pewter plate at the
same location. The new plate was inscribed with a copy of Hartog’s
inscription, together with details of his own visit to the island.
Just like Hartog, Vlamingh used a kitchen plate selected from the
galley, and hammered it flat. It was promptly nailed to a post of
cypress pine he had collected from Rottnest Island. Vlamingh set sail on
February 12th 1697.

One hundred and
four years later in July 1801, Vlamingh’s pewter plate was found by the
French expedition of
Nicolas Baudin. Captain Emmanuel Hamelin arrived on
the corvette Naturaliste to rendezvous with Baudin's ship
Geographe. They considered taking the
plate home. After much debate, it was decided removing the plate would
be the wrong thing to do, so they nailed the plate to a fresh post, and
left the island. This post thereafter became known as Hamelin's Post. Not every crew member agreed with this decision. Junior
officer Louis de Freycinet, desired the plate with a passion. He worked
his way through the French Navy, and eventually gained command of his own ship. In 1818 he returned to Cape
Inscription, and recovered Vlamingh’s
plate for France.

The 1908 Posts.
In 1907 the remains of the Vlamingh and Hamelin Posts were
removed from Cape Inscription. Two posts of Raspberry Jam Wood
were erected at the site during 1908. In 1997, the 1908 posts were
removed, and replaced with new posts made of Rottnest Island and Baltic
pine. In 2006 the Cape Inscription Area was added to the National
Heritage List.

Should anything else
happen, we will keep you posted.

Vlamingh's Plate. You can still see the text, nail
holes and centre circle from the pressing. It is securely bolted
behind bullet proof glass in the
Shipwreck
Galleries in Fremantle, just in case passing French tourists
get any ideas.

Four
years later during January 1822, the now lonely post was the
subject of Western Australia’s first recorded act of graffiti
vandalism. British navigator Philip Parker King
wrote his name on Hamelin's Post by hammering in a series of
nails. Tagging had just begun.

So
where are the plates today?
Dirk Hartog’s plate is now on display in the Rijksmuseum in
Amsterdam, and is the oldest written record of a European
landing in Australia. Vlamingh’s plate spent many years on
display in the French Academy in Paris. Someone accidentally
misplaced the plate, and it then remained lost for over 100
years. It was rediscovered in 1940, on the bottom shelf of a
small room nobody went into much. The French Government returned
Vlamingh’s plate to Western Australia in 1947. It is now
housed in the
Shipwreck
Galleries in Fremantle.

Dirk Hartog Island still hides one last piece of historic
kitchenware. During Baudin’s expedition of 1801, the
Captain of the Naturaliste, Emmanuel Hamelin left his own
inscription on a lead plate. Nailed to a post on a prominent
headland, it remains undiscovered to this very day.

POSTSCRIPT:
All these posts can leave
you a little confused. Just to make life easy here are some
post-it notes.

Hartog's Post:
This was the original post erected on 25th October 1616 by Dirk
Hartog. The post was believed to have been made of oak.
We don't really know what became of Hartog's Post, but according
to William de Vlamingh's description in 1697, it had by then
almost rotted away. Presumably there may be still fragments of it
in the ground at Point Inscription.

Vlamingh's Post:
This post was erected on 4th February 1697, by Willem de Vlamingh,
to replace Hartog's weather beaten post, and plate. It was
believed to have been made from the Cypress Pine he had collected while
visiting Rottnest island. Vlamingh removed Hartog's
Plate and returned it to Holland, though saw no value in the
decaying Hartog Post. Vlamingh's Post was removed
during a survey of Point Inscription in 1907, and presented to the
Western Australian Maritime Museum.

Hamelin's Post:
French Captain Emmanuel Hamelin, erected a third post on
16th July 1801. He was annoyed to have learnt his crew had
discovered Vlamingh's Plate while exploring Cape
Inscription, and had taken it on board the Naturaliste.
He ordered that his crew return it immediately, and attach it to
a new post made from a section of the ship's spar. Hence
Hamelin's Post was created. The wood is believed to be
Baltic Pine. In 1818 one of Hamelin's former
officers, Louis de Freycinet returned to Cape Inscription
and removed the plate for France. He did not remove
Hamelin's Post. Vlamingh's Post, and maybe even
the fragile remains of Hartog's Post, were also still at
the Point in 1818. All three posts were now without
plates.

On 24th January 1822
visiting British sailor Phillip Parker King had his
name, and the date, outlined in nails on Hamelin's Post.
Hamelin's Post was later removed during a survey of Point
Inscription in 1907, and presented to the Western Australian
Maritime Museum.

Pictured here is
Hamelin's Post. You can still make out the nail
inscriptions left by King in 1822. We have rotated the
post below, so you can better make out the figure "1822".
The word "KING" can also be seen just above the date, though it
takes a little more imagination to visualise. Hamelin's
Post is also significant, as it is an actual piece of wood from
the historic vessel, the
Naturaliste.

KING

1822

Hamelin's Post with
detail of King's 1822
Nail Inscription.

Vlamingh's Post 1697
(left).

Hamelin's Post 1801
(right).

The
1908 Posts: In
1908 the Western Australian Government erected two posts made of
Raspberry Jam Wood to mark the historical importance of the
site. The Vlamingh and Hamelin Post's (pictured left)
had both been removed the year before. In 1997, the
1908 Posts were removed. One of the 1908 Posts
was presented to the Western Australian Museum, and the other
remains in private ownership.

One of the 1908 Posts.

The 1997 Posts: The
1908 Posts were replaced in 1997, with two new posts made of Rottnest
Island, and Baltic pine. These were the same type of woods that
the Vlamingh and HamelinPost's were shaped
from. Could these 1997 additions be the Last Posts? We think
not.

What is the story of the Dutch
mariner who was marooned twice on the coastline of
Western Australia?

Once the
survivors of the Vergulde Draeck gathered on the beach in 1656, the
Captain decided to organise a daring rescue mission. Using a small boat
salvaged from the wreck, a selection of the ship’s crew were instructed
to sail north to Batavia, and report the tragedy. Captain Albertsz
appointed his understeersman Abraham Leeman van Santwits to lead the
mission of seven sailors. After the nasty
Batavia mutiny in 1629, Albertsz
probably thought he should stay behind with the remaining survivors,
just in case they got up to no good.

Six weeks later, Leeman arrived in Batavia. The journey was an amazing
accomplishment under arduous conditions, and a demonstration of Leeman’s
superior navigational skills. Several rescue missions were quickly
dispatched, but with no success. The Goede Hoop in 1656 lost three
crew on the mainland, and left a longboat with eight crew smashed on a
reef. In 1658 the Emmeloort and Waeckende Boei arrived at the wreck site
with Abraham Leeman on board. Being a former survivor from the Vergulde
Draeck, he had some local knowledge of the area.

The beach where the Vergulde
Draeck survivors gathered in 1656.

Leeman was in
charge of the landing parties, and two years after being shipwrecked was
back on the shore looking for survivors. Despite finding scattered
wreckage on the beach, Leeman found no survivors. From this
point on, things went horribly wrong for Abraham Leeman.

March 22nd
1658: Leeman returns to
the Waeckende Boei, after a long day searching the shore. Despite
Leeman having concerns that a dangerous storm was forming, the
Captain ordered him to return, and continue the search. The storm
whipped up the ocean, and Leeman was unable to either land, or make
contact with the Waeckende Boei.

March 23rd
1658: Leeman’s crew
drifted north as the storm worsened, before finally crashing into a rock
ledge. Heavy damage was sustained to the boat.
Meanwhile, the Waeckende Boei
headed out to sea to ride out the storm.

March 24th -
27th 1658: Surviving on a
diet of seals and seagulls, Leeman repaired the boat, and then headed
south searching for the Waeckende Boei. They slept over night on
Lancelin Island, though
were unable to sight the ship. Fearing the
worse they then sailed north again.

Lancelin Island -
Campsite for Leeman in 1658.

March 28th
1658: Camping on the
beach that evening Leeman sighted the Waeckende Boei, and quickly
lighted some scrub fires. They were acknowledged by a cannon blast
from the ship. Things were looking good, so Leeman responded with a
second scrub fire. With darkness ensuing, and the seas rising, Leeman
decided to make for the ship the next morning.

March 29th
1658: Dawn broke and the
Waeckende Boei was gone. Hoping they would return, Leeman
and his crew waited on the beach for a week. However, the ship was
long gone, and arrived in Batavia on April 10th 1658. The Emmeloort
had left even earlier, reaching Batavia on March 18th 1658. Leeman
was now marooned for a second time.

April 8th
1658: Realising that their
only chance of survival, would involve a long sea journey to Batavia, the fourteen
marooned crew gathered sea-weed, seal meat, and drinking
water. They set sail on April 8th
1658.

April 9th -
29th 1658: Three of the
crew died of thirst. They were forced to drink seawater, and their
own urine to survive. After three weeks, the weary crew reached the
coast of Java, where they replenished their dwindling supplies. Seven
men abandoned the boat to take their chances on the mainland.

30th April
1658: Leeman and the
three remaining crew struggled on. Totally exhausted, and
undermanned, they were
soon wrecked further along the coastline.

1st May -
23rd September 1658: For
nearly five months they trekked through the dense Javanese jungle,
before eventually arriving in Batavia on September 23rd 1658.

To have survived
one journey to Batavia is a remarkable feat of endurance. Incredibly,
through sheer determination and courage, Abraham Leeman had now survived
two. In recognition of his achievement, a sleepy little fishing village
on the Western Australian coastline was named Leeman. The captains of
the Emmeloort and Waeckende Boei were wrapped over the knuckles by a
High Council, for some dubious maritime decisions. Discouraged by this
misadventure, the Dutch East India Company waited another forty years,
before searching again for survivors from the Vergulde Draeck.

Why does Australian History tend to
forget the efforts of the Dutch East India Company, and focus on
the voyages of Captain Cook?

Many people
believe that Captain James Cook discovered Australia in 1770. They tend
to forget that Dutch mariner Willem Janszoon landed on Australia’s
northern coast in 1606. It is a surprise to many people, when they find
out that Cook never even sighted the coast of Western Australia.

Some of the
reasons the Dutch expeditions became relegated to Trivial Pursuit
questions are as follows:

Captain James Cook

Famous Dutch
Mariner

Australia was
established as a British Colony. The British influence meant that
the earlier Dutch expeditions never received the recognition they
deserved. Captain Cook had a much better public relations team
working for him.

The horrific
Batavia mutiny gave the Dutch mariners some really bad press. The
whole incident was a nasty affair, and is usually the only piece of
Dutch history most Australian’s can recall. Every visitor to
the Shipwreck Galleries in Fremantle, can view the tortured skeletal remains of a
mutiny victim. The old guy still scares me each time I take
a peek.

There is a
misconception that the Dutch mariners were solely interested in
trade. Any landing they made in Western Australia was
considered an accident,
forced from navigational error. The Dutch were in fact very skilful
mariners, who organised many expeditions of discovery to Australia.
Admittedly, trade was always a consideration during a journey
organised by the Dutch East India Company, as trading was
their core business.

Unfortunately
Willem de Vlamingh made a bad call after his journey of discovery in
1697. He advised the Dutch East India Company that Western Australia
offered no economic potential. Thereafter no more Dutch expeditions
visited the coastline. Captain Cook visited the east coast of
Australia, which had many more natural harbours. Harbours were a big
factor in those days, so the settlement decision was a no brainer
for the British. The Dutch encountered a much more physically
challenging coastline along Western Australia.

Vanishing
ships, lost settlements in Central Australia, and Aborigines seen
wearing white fluffy Dutch collars, have contributed a mythical
quality to the Dutch maritime effort. Some of these stories might be
more suitable in a movie screenplay, than a museum exhibit. Too many
of these yarns can tarnish all the solid history.

Some history
buffs blame famed navigator Mathew Flinders, for suggesting that
Willem Janszoon didn’t exactly know where he was when he discovered
Australia in 1606. Janszoon incorrectly identified the Cape York
Peninsular, as part of Papua New Guinea. Another bad call. In
hindsight it was a minor technical mistake, with some major
historical outcomes.

When a Dutch
mariner left the Dutch East India Company, he generally
disappeared off the face of the earth. History quickly forgot
them. We can partially blame the culture of the Dutch East India Company
for this. They punished some of their mariners with heavy
fines if they arrived too late in Batavia. Others returned from their
voyages of discovery, to have their expeditions evaluated only from potential
trading opportunities. Even finding an image of their more
famous mariners can be a difficult task. Willem de Vlamingh retired after his great voyage of discovery
in 1697. Once things wrapped up at his Goodbye Bash, he
stepped out of the door, and like an old Dutch shipwreck... was never
heard of again.

Despite these
lingering issues, the Dutch maritime effort is now starting to be
properly recognised for it’s contribution to Australian History. Some
Western Australian shipbuilders skilfully crafted a working replica of
Janszoon’s ship the Duyfken. What a shame the
Duyfken had no historical links to Western Australia!

How come every
time I read an article about a Dutch ship the spelling is different?I gess wee will nevar noh de
anzwer to dis one.

Jokes aside, I
think it has something to do with translation from the old Dutch
language, to the modern Dutch interpretation, and then finally into
English. Something definitely gets lost in the translation. There seems
to be several ways to correctly spell each ship’s name. This is possibly
why Dutch Spelling Bees always end in a draw. Spelling them is one
thing, but have you ever tried saying them out loud. Ridderschap Van
Holland and Aagaterke! With names like that, no wonder these ships
vanished off the face of the Earth.

VOC Historical SocietyThis is a best place to visit when you want to learn more about the
important role the United East India Company, played in the exploration
of the Western Australian coastline. These guys are on top of their
subject, and have some great mysteries and shipwreck tales to share.